25 Jan 2022
Namibia’s premier agricultural lender, Agribank, spearheaded a stakeholder engagement event in Gobabis, Omaheke region, bringing together
all agriculture role players in the region, to consult and engage on how best
to serve farmers in the cattle country. The event took place on Wednesday, 19 January
2022.
Farmers’ union representatives formed part of the
engagement, and presented their challenges, while also proposing solutions.
Among others, farmers indicated that due to drought, farmers are now
disintegrated as each farmer is now focused on the survival of his/her farm,
resulting in less peer-to-peer interactions. As such, farmers are proposing for
Agribank to champion events for farmers to come together, and share information
on addressing various challenges they face.
It was further proposed for Agribank to provide
certificate of attendance and/or accreditation to farmers, after attending
farming trainings facilitated by Agribank. According to farmers, this will help
when applying for resettlement farms at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and
Land Reform.
Farmers also encouraged synergies between all key
stakeholder in the region, to ensure that bottlenecks in the process of serving
farmers are addressed from all angles. During the engagement, stakeholders
presented their respective roles in the process of developing and promoting
agriculture in the country. Additionally, Agribank loan application processes
and requirements also featured.
On behalf of Agribank, Mr. Regan Mwazi, Executive
Manager Marketing and Customer Strategy responded to some of the issues raised
and praised the institutions for attending and providing inputs. “It is only through stakeholder engagements
such as this one where local solution to local challenges can be provided and
opportunities identified for exploitation to the benefit of the farming
industry,” he stated. Mr. Mwazi also
urged farmers to be organised in order to be heard and take seriously the
information provided to them through various platforms in order to improve
their respective farming techniques.
Commenting on the engaged, Emilie Abraham, Manager:
Horticulture Market Development, Namibia Agronomic Board, expressed her satisfaction
with the meeting, noting that the event helped in providing context on the
responsibilities of individual stakeholders, while also clarifying such
functions in the chain of helping farmers, and growing the sector.
Recently, Agribank’s newly appointed Chief Executive
Officer, Dr Raphael Karuaihe announced that stakeholder engagements will be at
the core of his 100 days in office. As such, more events of similar nature will
be conducted at the auspices of Agribank.
The following institutions were represented: Omaheke Regional
Council, Farmers Unions and Associations, Namibia Agronomic Board, Meat Board
of Namibia, NAMPOL Stock Theft Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land
Reform, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Witvlei Village Council,
and the Namibia Biomass Industry Group.
Mr. Regan Mwazi (in blue), Executive Manager Marketing and Customer
representing Agribank during the engagements.
Issued
by:
Fillemon Nangonya
Public Relations Officer
For
inquiries, kindly contact the Marketing and Communications Division
Tel.:
061 2074111
Email: info@agribank.com.na
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